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Waldren
Waldren is from the continent Senfara. It spoke the common tongue. It showed up and took over various places in the continent of Tirónar during a period known as the Waldren Occupation. History Origin Waldren's culture is based on irl Europe during the age of mercantilism Waldren originated from a country in northern Senfara. The cold, Scanindavian-esque climate of this region homeland made resources difficult to come by, and foreign goods were in high demand among the upper classes. In addition, a recent explosion of development in the region had caused large swaths of deforestation, making lumber another valuable resource. When the Waldren Trade Enterprise built a handful of ships and sailed west through the rocky, previously uncharted islands between Senfara and Tirónar, their goal was to profit upon these two factors. It goes well at first Waldren first landed in Leyfel around 1000, where they immediately established its first of many colonies. From there, the imperialists traveled north, where they quickly and easily took over the forested regions of Lantraeth and the rocky coast of Halennor, both of which were almost completely empty and practically defenseless after the Dragon War. With a source of lumber, mining opportunities, and tropical produce, Waldren was drunk on success and decided to seek more profit further inland. After fighting for a while against the comparatively thriving kingdom of Grancinco, Waldren took over a large swath of the southeastern coast. This region, which they renamed Tandeli, was enormously profitable for Waldren. Not only was the region full of bustling ports, fertile soil, and tropical goods, but Tandeli was home to the largest unicorn population in Tirónar. Waldren immediately began hunting unicorns to the point of endangerment, selling their horns and coats for ridiculous profits. Around the same time, Waldren also claimed Duilintinn for its own, with next to no opposition. Almost immediately, the colonists began cutting down the smaller forests that dotted the landscape, causing massive deforestation that the region has never recovered from. In addition, it began setting along and imposing its own culture on the eastern coast of the region, effectively ensuring that the already-weakened civilization of Feadhainn would never rise again. These regions were all called an “Arm of Waldren.” For example, Tandeli was called “The Southern Arm of Waldren,” Leyfel was known as “The Central Arm of Waldren,” the lands that would become Halennor and Lantraeth were collectively known as the “Northern Arm of Waldren,” etc. As Waldren depleted what they believed to be Duilintinn's valuable resources, the region was jokingly called “The Useless Arm of Waldren." Then it goes bad Finally, Waldren attempted to take over Haneul, and at this point, their luck began to turn. As Waldren had initially feared, Haneul kicked Waldren's butt onto the curb. In addition, Waldren's ships approached too close to the Island League during this invasion attack, so the pirates of the League began to rob and torment the imperialist trade ships at every turn, both out of respect for their allies in Haneul and for some consistent profit and sport. In response, Waldren attempted to take over the Island League. However, the merfolk of the Eastern Sea, who themselves were strong allies of the Island League, began to take issue with the swarms of boats coming through their territory up and down the coast. The nuisance that the merfolk made of themselves, combined with the superior seafaring abilities of the Island League, ensured that Waldren wouldn't take over the islands and would remain easy pickings for the pirates. Frustrated, Waldren sailed to the opposite side of Tirónar in hopes of snatching up Borrike. Rumors said that this region had massive forests and wide, sweeping plains of untilled land ripe for the picking. However, these rumors forgot to mention that Borrike also had giants, and Waldren quickly decided that the western coast of Tirónar was too far away to profit upon. Then it really goes belly-up After a few centuries of profiting off of these colonies, Waldren began to face down the first of many revolutions against their rule in Tirónar. While the initial uprisings were easily quelled, the spark of these attempts for independence would light a flame across the continent. From then on, Waldren was constantly fighting at least one uprising. As a result, Waldren institutes a period of salutary neglect for its more cooperative and/or unprofitable colonies. Duilintinn was the first to be left to its own devices; Waldren had long since cut down all the trees near the coast, and after decades of attempting to grow crops or otherwise profit over the region, they decided that Duilintinn's climate was too much of a hassle. Their tune might have changed if they recognized the magical potential of the region, but instead, Waldren abandoned Duilintinn in all but name, beginning the period known as the Interim Years in Duil history. As time goes on, other colonies resist and other colonies get ignored. Even Leyfel decides they're sick of being taken advantage of by a company that playacts at being a government, and by 1500, Waldren goes home, having given up or been forcibly removed from all of its former colonies. Good riddance. Culture Magic The people of the Waldren Trading Enterprise were very skeptical of magic. This explains why Waldren abandoned Duilintinn after taking what few mundane resources of value the land had to offer. To them, magic was not a valuable resource. Depending on who you asked, most people who came to Duilintinn with the traders would tell you that magic was either a complete myth or a dangerous force of savagery. As the settlers left behind expanded further into Duilintinn, this belief spread even as far west as the Draoidh Valley. As a result, mages became a cultural entity unto themselves during the Waldren Occupation. Like most minority groups in Duilintinn during the Interim Years, mages tended to stick together in isolated communities. Accidentally unlocking one’s magic in a non-magic community could mean anything from social ostracization to harmful “corrective” treatments. Weddings and Power Structures ''Disclaimer: this bit is directly copied from my notes and not edited at all sorry '' Waldren was a bunch of control freaks with a thing for established power structures telling the people below them what to do. Arranged marriages would absolutely fit their particular gig. Marriage ceremonies were not celebrations of the individuals getting married and a vow by the families to respect that, but a final symbolic handshake on a deal between two families that have deemed each other worthy of long-term association with each other through marriage. The individuals actually getting married had very little to do with it; they were dressed up and celebrated, of course, but more like how you dress up a horse for a fancy show, or redesign your house right before putting it on the housing market. It's showing them off as symbolic objects representing each family in a greater transaction, rather than a individual moment specifically for them. That's not to say couples in Waldren didn't marry for love. However, families could put a stop to marriages they didn't approve of very easily, and arranged marriages were very common. However, the individuals in question were brought into this conversation. They were expected to participate in the discussion about why they believe a marriage with so-and-so would be good, practically and/or emotionally. Waldren was very bureaucratic in that way. It emphasized these powerful structures in authority, yes, but that respect and authority went all the way down the chain of command, and those in power were expected to listen to those underneath them and acknowledge their advice. In many ways, this is what Duilintinn's Noble House government system was based on. It's not just "I'm in charge so you have to do what i say," but "I have more experience in this matter and therefore you should respect the authority that gives me." In situations where someone lower in the chain of command is recognized to have more experience in a specific matter (such as local officials knowing their constituents better than higher level politicians, or a bride-to-be knowing certain traits that would make a spouse bad for her future marriage), their opinion is very respected. The upper authorities still make the final call, but Waldren's empire would have crumbled MUCH earlier if they didn't really double-down on listening to the little guy as well. Many of Waldren's failures on the continent where the people rebelled and kicked them out, were seen as prime examples of what NOT to do in this regard. Oh and wedding rings in waldren were a thing to represent a sort of "seal the deal" thing, like putting a fancy wax stamp on a missive or something. Divorce was NOT a thing unless you wanted the other family to be super mad at yours forever and ever. Wedding vows were exchanged by PARENTS Calendar ''Disclaimer: again, this bit is directly copied from my notes and not edited at all. i got lazy. sue me. i'll fix it later. '' Waldren had its own calendar, with Year 0 counted a few centuries prior to that of the Duil calendar and including a period of documented history similar to “B.C.” By contrast, little of certainty is known about the historical period prior to the rise of Feadhainn due to the destruction of the Dragon War, so the Duil calendar doesn’t have an equivalent period of documented history. I’m not entirely sure why the Feadhainn calendar survived to become the established calendar of Duilintinn, especially since Waldren would have tried to impose their own system upon the lands they controlled. Perhaps Haneul started using it, keeping it alive when they successfully resisted Waldren’s imperialism. Perhaps the calendar made a resurgence after the period of salutary neglect after Waldren stopped trying to profit off of the region. Category:Messy page